Found my Forte II center channel

[carbon summit]

My TV does have a stand but the shelves on the TV stand are only rated for 65 lbs so I can't go that route.

[wuzzzer]

Well, my wife and I are planning a trip to Yellowstone this summer via Rapid City. If you end up not wanting the pair I'd gladly pay you what you paid for them to use them as my side surrounds.

[]

[carbon summit]

Let the testing begin!

I'm watching Casino Royale tonight with the Forte II in the center spot. I've never seen it so I'm not sure how the surround sound is in that movie but I figure its a Bond film so should be some explosions and shooting, right? I think my receiver will adjust the sound for it being ahead of the TV and other Forte IIs the way it is. The auto setup got the distances right so I hope it gives me a fair idea of what the Forte II would be like if it was in line with the other two.

[carbon summit]

The Forte II did sound good up front, but wasn't the big step up from the Academy I expected. I watched the movie and then went back and re watched a few parts I remembered as sounding really good. I can't do a simple a/b test. I have to unhook the Forte II and move it out of the way, hook the Academy up, then redo the auto setup on the receiver. Then I'd re watch the same scene with the Academy and was pleased with the sound that way too. I honestly don't know if its worth totally redoing my HT setup to accommodate the bigger speaker or not. I'm sure I'll watch a few more movies with the Forte II at center but for now I'm not sold on the idea.

I've moved the Forte IIs back to rear surrounds for now and will try it this way for movie tomorrow night. I'd still like to find a nicer pair of Forte IIs for rear surrounds but for now these sound great. I'm getting excited about trying to repair them, it will be a great learning experience because I've never done any type of woodworking/repair. I won't say I can't make them any worse because they aren't terrible but they are at a point where I'm not scared to attempt a repair. I do love having speakers I'm not so nervous about moving around when I'm trying all these different ways I could use them. Not that I'm rough on them but I really do fear I'll chip or dent my good ones when I have to move them for whatever reason. Kind of like a POS car, you can park it anywhere but a nice one you have to be careful.

[dtel]

I have never had an Academy so you may not have a giant improvement in the center position ?

Try a concert DVD also before you comment to anything, another thing I was thinking about after looking at your pic is how far the two mains are spread apart could affect how much of a difference the type of center would make ? I had to put my mains in the corners, that puts them 24' apart, in just the stereo mode there was a big hole in the center sitting 15' back, so that extra forte could had had a bigger impact considering there was a big hole there ?

Just guessing [*-)]

Really nice looking setup, I like how it looks neat and clean and balanced ! [Y]

Mine looks way to heavy in the center with the TV and the entrainment center I built around it. It's so big in the center my wife said the MWM's are going to look good in the corners to balance out that big TV and cabinet ! [:|] They were her and my daughters Idea ! []

[merkin]

I agree with Dtel, try the concert CD. I think I could tell a difference with the fullness of the sound. Also pay attention for things panning from left to right or r to left. If it feels like the sound is smooth and you don't notice it switching from speaker to speaker that is what makes it sweet.

[carbon summit]

I thought I read someone on here just ordered some badges from Klipsch parts. I guess they are now out. Now I have to give money to the ebay speaker butchers which I hate to do.

Hello Jeff, Thank you for contacting Klipsch. Unfortunately, we no longer have the logos available for this model. I apologize for any inconvenience.

If you would like to place a parts order, please contact the parts dept at 1-800-KLIPSCH (554-7724) option 6 Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm ET. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express over the phone, or you may send in a money order or certified check from a bank. Thank you for your email.

Travis Turner

KlipschGroup Inc. Parts Dept.The Ultimate Sound Experience

[BE36]

I read somewhere that the center channel should never be in front of the Left and Right speakers? Since Fortes are considered by some to be sensitive to Toe and recommend to never Toe-in Fortes, maybe having center channel forward of the Fortes is affecting the Sound of the Left & Right Speakers and this is some of what you are hearing.

Also when I had my Fortes, due the passive Radiator, the base quality was even more sensitive than most speakers on how far away they were from both the Rear and Side walls. Like K-Horns corner placement was good but Kind of the opposite of K-Horns a little space is good no space bad. K-Horns are helped by sealing up tight, Fortes need to Breathe. Having the center channel too close to your amps etc. could be having a large effect.

If you can get the area cleared out I would try varing the distance from the rear wall and keep the center channel at least 1 inch closer to the rear wall than the Left & Right Speakers.

[carbon summit]

Thanks for the ideas BE36. Having the center speaker in front was just more of an experiment without having to undo my current set up too much. The receiver adjusted the levels to make the output balanced but who's to say how it effected the sound waves coming from the right and left speakers.

Since I've got two subs I set the front three Forte IIs to small so I'm not sure placement for bass is an issue I'm too worried about but I agree when I pull them away from the wall a little more (they are 6" away normally) and set the receiver to play 2 channel with the bass going to them and turn the subs off the bass response is night and day better than the way I have them set up as a rule. Concessions in speaker placement with the layout of the room. If I didn't have the subs doing the heavy lifting I'd have to rethink that compromise I'm sure.

I wasn't saying the Forte II in the front sounded bad, in fact is sounded pretty good even with the less than idea test set up. I was just saying that it wasn't a huge improvement over the Academy at least in my situation. Like dtel mentioned about it could be because my front two Forte IIs are so close together that I don't really need the help of another full sized speaker to fill the center in.

Merkin mentioned listening for the sound when the sound is panning from L to R, or R to L. I watched Apocalypse Now about a week ago with the Academy at center and there are a few scenes in that movie where the helicopters fly back and forth across both on the front speakers and the rear speakers and both sounded great. I wondered about the rear with only having a 5.2 set up with the speakers on the sides and none right in back but it sounded great across the back too.

My living room is 15'x19' but only 15'x12' is actually what I consider my listening area. The way the couches are set up there is a couch running parallel with the TV then an end table and then sitting 90 degrees off that same end table the love seat runs back toward the TV. The front two Forte IIs are 9' apart and the center seating position on the couch facing the TV is 9' back. So I have a nice little triangle that the Forte IIs fill in nicely. Like BE36 said I too have mine facing straight ahead with no toe in, I've read that before that Forte IIs shouldn't be toed in.

All and all I have not given up on my all Forte IIs plan. My room probably is small enough I can get away with a smaller center. But lets be real, the Academy isn't a small center compared to most of them out there. My new plan (which changes like the weather) is to continue looking for another pair of Forte IIs as nice as my front pair and in the mean time I'll use these for rears. At some point I plan to try to repair these and in time I might move my HT down to the basement where I'd have more open area to work with and experiment more. But for now I'm very happy with my current setup in the front with the Academy but I have no regrets buying the ones I just bought because now I know how a Forte II in front works in this set up and down the road I can move them around if I move downstairs and instantly know if its better then. I like Forte IIs, and won't mind having an extra pair hanging around if I do find a nice clean pair in my area. Who knows maybe I'll surprise myself and be a better woodworker than I think and these will turn out really nice and I won't need to find a minty pair. From what I recall of the projects from shop class my freshman year of high school that probably isn't going to be the case!

[dtel]

Your right the Academy is a very good center, there may not be that much difference in your room. You could always get more fortes later or if you move them downstairs. The only reason I didn't go with an Academy when I was looking was because one Academy cost the same as a pair of fore ll's, and I had the room for the forte.

Your doing much better than anything you can buy at BB or any store for 3 times the price.

I was thinking about it the other day, 3 pair of forte'lls, or Heresy's, Chorus at $1500 max for 6 HT speakers. Look around and see what you can get at that price that could compare with that kind of sound. Nothing

[Wishbone]

Hi Mark,I agree totally about using Forte II as a stand for tv.I will try & show you my ht set up.(via pics).I have three forte"s across front.The center is a Forte I,that i purchased 3 months ago.The forte I sits on a stand 48 wide x 23 highx 23 (Walmart ).My tv is a 50"Pioneer Elite which sits on the Forte I & is supported well as Mark stated.Forte II's on floor next to stand.Rear Forte II's.The sound just blows me away.I have been a member since June of 08'.The people on this forum helped me make the decision to go with this set up.At first i thought the Plasma was a little high for viewing,but it only brings tv approx.34 inches from florr to bottom of tv.Having all the same sounds Great to me.As always thanks to the forum.